Sunday, February 11, 2001		Article

MORE than any other flower, the rose has figured prominently in various imaginative and expressive fields like history, literature, art, music, jewellery, cosmetology and medicine. The ancient Greek poetess Sappho was so charmed by the rose’s perfect beauty that she named it ’Queen of Flowers’ in her Ode to Rose. Thus it was crowned for all times to come.

Legend has it that the first rose bloomed in Garden of Eden. It was white, till Eve kissed. It blushed, turning red. Ever since then red roses, symbol of love, are grown world over. Older than man, it has survived Ice Age, floods and famine. Rose fossils of over 30 million years have been found, it being the first flower ever cultivated and cherished by man in all civilisations.

It’s lore is lost in beginnings of Asian culture, the cradle of roses. Old Sanskrit literature mentions them as Taruni Pushpa, Atimanjula and Semantika. The 5th century BC Chinese library contained 600 books on them. Even Herodotus in the 6th century BC described the highly fragrant rose.

A 3,000-year-old lyrical reference to it, is found in Old Testament: "I am the rose of Sharon" (Song of Solomon) and "...... The Desert shall rejoice. And bloom as the rose" (Isaiah). Today, Israel has many rose plantations, the prophecy having come true. The lovely Damask rose (R.Damascena) came originally from Damascus, from where it derives its name.

Dedicated to Goddess Venus, as a mark of love and beauty, the rose was considered most sacred, fit alone for offerings at temples of ancient Egyptian Goddess Isis. Symbolic of purity, it is associated with Virgin Mary, also called the Mystical Rose. Interestingly a rosary implies a rose garland, even a rose garden.

During a Roman feast, rose garlands hung on walls, its petals carpeting the floors. Guests wore crowns of roses to prevent heady effects of drinking wine. Dishes were garnished with chopped rose petals. Rose baths were taken to preserve youth and beauty.

Crushed roses were applied to the face overnight, to smoothen out wrinkles. Roman brides wore rosette crowns in honour of Flora, Goddess of Love.

Cleopatra received Mark Antony in her palace, in a sea of knee-deep roses. Nero paid one tonne gold for a shipment of Egyptian rose petals. The red rose was so highly prized that it substituted for rent! The great demand led to extensive rose plantations in Italy and Egypt, which historians opine could have been instead used for food.

That the rose scented the air of Persian gulistaans is evident from Firdausi describing one as "delightful to the heart where roses bloom." Even Saadi’s most famed work is Rose Garden.

Omar Khayyam in his verse wrote:

No wonder Omar laments, "Alas that spring should vanish with the rose". He wished, "My tomb shall be in a place where North Wind may scatter roses over it". Years later, when his pupil Khwaja Nizami visited Omar’s resting place at Nishapur, he found rose boughs dropping their petals, hiding his tomb. A pink Damask rose bearing his name, sprang up there.

As a symbol of secrecy, its roots lie in Greek mythology. Cupid bribed Hippocrates, the Greek God with a rose, not to reveal the indiscreet love affairs of Venus. This it became an emblem of silence. The rose appeared on confessional boxes. From this is derived the idiom "under the rose" (sub-rosa) meaning confidentially. In the Middle Ages, a rose suspended over a table implied a secret meeting conducted there.

The Houses of York and Lancaster waged a long war (1455-1485) staking their claim to English crown called War of Roses because their heraldic coat of arms were white and red roses. In the end Henry VII united the roses into an emblem of undivided England.

The little dog rose appears on English stamps, coins and documents. It is also the State flower of New York, Georgia, Iowa and North Dakota.

Rumer Godden’s biography of Babar’s youngest daughter Gulbadan traces the rose’s influence over him, Gul means ‘rose’ ...... it is plainly of the red rose Babur was thinking when he named Gulbadan and her two sisters. The oldest was Gulrang (rose-coloured), the second Gulchihra (rose-cheeked). Another of Babur’s wives was Gulrukh (rose-faced)".

The flower caught the imagination of Akbar who maximed:

Jahangir had a stream filled with rose water as he wanted everything around Noor Jehan to smell lovely. One day as they strolled there, she saw a film of thick oily and fragrant water. She named it Atat — Jahangiri, thus being the originator of attar.

The tantalising fragrance of rose has also been freely expressed by poets like Sir Thomas Moore, Christopher Marlow, Leigh, Hunt, Chaucer, Shelly, Blake, Victor Hugo and Sir Walter Scott too. Shakespeare has written more than 60 times on the rose.

The rose has also cultivated for its medicinal values. In 17th century Europe, the oil of roses was used in treating eye diseases, headaches, nose bleeds and heartburn. Liver disorders were cured by a mixture of rose petals and sugar. Dried rose petals were placed on glowing charcoal and the smoke emanating from this was reputed to cure stabbing ear pains. Many still take roses vinegar for a sore throat. Gulkand is a mild and delicious purgative and tonic.

At the base of the rose flower, lies the hollow floral cup, containing berry-like red, orange or black seeds called rose hips. During World War II, a conserve of rose hips, from R. Rugusa were eaten in England as a supplementary source of Vitamin C. The rose hips are made into syrup or jelly. Every 100 gm of rose hip syrup contains 150 mg. of Vitamin C compared to only 50 mg present in orange juice, 20 gm in raw tomatoes and 5 mg in apples.

Many new exciting colours have been added to rose like blue and coffee (Mohini, developed by Pusa Institute). Then there are varieties where the colour changes from bud to full bloom e.g. Kiss of Fire. Yet there are with stripes like Careless Love.

Shakespeare said "What’s in a name, That which we call a rose by another name would smell just as sweet." Still, roses have such fancy names like Fragrant Cloud, Pink Powderpuff, Moonlight Sonata, Golden Shower, etc.